Temptation's Kiss Read Free Page A

liked vanilla and coffee.” She laughed. “It sounds silly.”
    He was hit with a rush of tenderness. He could see it; Lily making small talk with the customers, a couple of cherub-cheeked kids running around, squealing with delight when Kane stepped through the door.
    It was a pipe dream. For him, at least.
    He forced a smile. “It doesn’t sound silly. It sounds perfect. And you’d be just the person to do it.”
    Her eyes lit up. “You really think so?”
    “Without a doubt. One taste of your lemon cookies, and the place would be packed to the gills every day of the week.”
    She met his eyes, and her smile ran right through him.

Six
    “Hands off!” Lily smacked Scarlet’s hand away from the pan of cookies cooling on the counter.
    “Ow!” Scarlet rubbed her hand. “So much for not liking violence.”
    Lily waved the wooden spoon she was holding in the air. “There’s a big difference between stopping you from devouring all the cookies and killing people with the glaive.”
    “They’re not people,” Scarlet said.
    “Okay, demons, then. Whatever.”
    “I’m hungry,” Scarlet said, opening the fridge. “I took a beating from Braden in the training room before I finally brought him down.”
    Lily pulled a chair out from the kitchen table. “Sit. I’ll make you something.” She started assembling the ingredients for Scarlet’s favorite veggie sandwich. “How did Rowen feel about you taking a beating?”
    “He hasn’t watched since he almost killed Kane for knocking me out. I told him if he was going to watch me spar, he’d have to keep his temper under control. He hasn’t been back since.” Scarlet laughed. “Says he doesn’t trust himself.”
    Lily smiled. She had never expected Scarlet to find such a perfect match in Rowen Black. It wasn’t that her sister wasn't pretty. In fact, she was gorgeous, her eyes a darker green than Lily’s, her long dark hair falling to a small waist. Her determination to keep up with the men of the Guard—and her ceaseless training—had given her strong, supple curves.
    But before Rowen Black arrived at Guard headquarters, Scarlet had been a self-avowed bachelorette, claiming that her duty to the Guard—and the possibility she would be named as successor to their ailing father—superseded any desire for a personal life.
    Rowen had softened her. In a good way. She was still fierce. Still a warrior. But she seemed somehow more than she was before. Like Rowen had brought out all the other parts of her that had been buried to make room for the all-consuming drive that had ruled her for so long.
    Lily couldn’t help wondering if there were buried parts of herself, too. Parts that would only reveal themselves when she found someone who could love her for all she was.
    And all she wasn’t.
    She finished Scarlet’s sandwich and put it in front of her with a glass of water. “There. Now eat. And stay away from my cookies until after dinner.”
    Scarlet took a bite and closed her eyes, savoring the taste. “I swear,” she said, her mouth still full. “You make the best sandwiches. And I’m guessing I’m not the only one who thinks so.” She grinned around the bite.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lily asked her.
    Scarlet swallowed and took a drink of water. “Just that I think Kane really likes your, um, sandwiches, too.”
    “Seriously?” Lily tipped her head. This was new, too. This silly, teasing Scarlet. “What are you, five years old again?”
    Scarlet grinned. “If I were five years old, I’d be singing, ‘Lily and Ka-ayne sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.’ I’m just saying, he’s obviously into you, so what are you waiting for?”
    Lily rubbed her finger against a mark on the wood of the table. “Come on, Scarlet. You know what. And why.”
    “I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.” Either Scarlet was a great actress or she was genuinely confused.
    “Someone like Kane wouldn’t want to be with someone like me.